Sunday, June 03, 2012

Adult Criminal Court Statistics in Canada, 2010/2011

" ... this Juristat article presents information on the characteristics of criminal court cases involving adults (18 years and older).
More specifically, it examines the number and types of cases completed
in adult criminal courts, the decisions made in relation to these
cases and the sentences imposed upon those found guilty. In addition,
this article looks briefly at the length of time taken to complete adult
criminal court cases and the factors that influence timeliness."

"It is important to note that the data presented in this article
represent approximately 95% of the caseload completed in Canadian adult
criminal courts. In 2010/2011, information from superior courts in
Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as
well as municipal courts in Quebec (which accounted for about
one-quarter of all Criminal Code charges in that province) was unavailable."

Among the highlights:

Adult criminal courts in Canada completed nearly 403,000 cases
in 2010/2011, involving about 1.2 million charges. The caseload was
virtually the same as the previous year following three consecutive
annual increases

In 2010/2011, 77% of all cases completed involved property, administration of justice, traffic or other non-violent Criminal Code offences, or federal statute offences such as drug offences. Violent offences accounted for the remaining 23%

Among completed cases, the most commonly occurring offences were
impaired driving, which represented 12% of the total, theft (11%),
common assault (9%), failure to comply with a court order (9%), and
breach of probation (8%)

While those aged 18 to 24 represented 12% of the adult population in
Canada, this age group accounted for 30% of all those accused in adult
criminal court

The most common type of sentence imposed in adult criminal courts was
probation, handed down in 45% of all guilty cases. The median length of
probation in 2010/2011 was 365 days in nearly every province and
territory. In 2010/2011, one-third (33%) of guilty adult criminal court cases
resulted in a sentence to custody, which has generally been the case for
the past decade. Sentences to custody were most often imposed by courts
in Prince Edward Island (63%) and least often in Nunavut (23%).The majority (86%) of custodial sentences were for a term of six months or less

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